近日，Matthew D. Shawkey及其课题组报道了中生代哺乳动物阐明了皮毛颜色的起源。2025年3月14日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

在这项研究中，该研究团队对来自116种现存哺乳动物的黑色素小体（含黑色素细胞器）形态和定量测量的头发颜色进行了主题化，以可靠地重建六种中生代哺乳动物的颜色，包括一种以前未描述过的真哈拉米单目动物。与在有羽恐龙身上发现的高度多样化的黑素体不同，6种不同谱系和不同生态形态的哺乳动物的毛发呈现出统一的黑素体几何形状，对应于暗色和夜行性的深棕色。他们的研究结果表明，现存哺乳动物的黑素体变异和颜色扩张可能发生在白垩纪-古近纪灭绝后的快速辐射和多样化过程中。

研究人员表示，皮毛的颜色具有多种功能，对哺乳动物的行为、生理和栖息地偏好的进化至关重要。然而，人们对与恐龙共同进化的中生代哺乳动物的颜色知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Mesozoic mammaliaforms illuminate the origins of pelage coloration

Author: Ruoshuang Li, Liliana D’Alba, Gerben Debruyn, Jessica L. Dobson, Chang-Fu Zhou, Julia A. Clarke, Jakob Vinther, Quanguo Li, Matthew D. Shawkey

Issue&Volume: 2025-03-14

Abstract: Pelage coloration, which serves numerous functions, is crucial to the evolution of behavior, physiology, and habitat preferences of mammals. However, little is known about the coloration of Mesozoic mammaliaforms that coevolved with dinosaurs. In this study, we used a dataset of melanosome (melanin-containing organelle) morphology and quantitatively measured hair colors from 116 extant mammals to reliably reconstruct the coloration of six Mesozoic mammaliaforms, including a previously undescribed euharamiyidan. Unlike the highly diverse melanosomes discovered in feathered dinosaurs, hairs in six mammaliaforms of different lineages and diverse ecomorphotypes showed uniform melanosome geometry, corresponding to dark-brown coloration consistent with crypsis and nocturnality. Our results suggest that the melanosome variation and color expansion seen in extant mammals may have occurred during their rapid radiation and diversification after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.

DOI: ads9734

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads9734